THESE are the astonishing CCTV images that sent two bungling robbers to jail for five years each.

The number was up for George Nicol, 37 and David Fowler, 27, when they tried to raid a bank’s call centre using a sewage tanker.

Their heist involved driving the stolen lorry through the main doors of HSBC offices in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, before taking sledgehammers to an ATM.

Armed with a sawn-off shotgun, the dim-witted ram-raiders spent five minutes trying to break into the cash machine – but failed spectacularly.

They were forced to flee empty-handed and their wrecking spree ran up a bill of more than £300,000 for HSBC and the firm who owned the stolen lorry.

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Nicol and Fowler were soon rounded up by police following a high-speed chase – after they had crashed their stolen getaway car into bollards.

Their catalogue of blunders were captured on CCTV, as they caused huge damage with the truck.

At one point, one of the hapless masked raiders threw his arms into the air in frustration as he realised the job had gone wrong.

Jailing Nicol for five-and-a-half years and Fowler for five years at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Lord Glennie branded the robbery bizarre.

He added: “The only saving grace is that the crime was carried out in such an incompetent fashion.”

The pair stole the vehicle from a DPG Plus yard in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, late on October 19 last year.

A few hours later, Nicol drove the truck to the HSBC, which the men had scoped beforehand.

Sidekick Fowler followed in a Skoda Octavia, which had false number plates and a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition hidden in the boot.

The court heard how once the pair arrived at the bank, Nicol used the industrial vehicle to smash his way through the double glass doors, which initially refuse to yield.

After two more tries, the door frame collapsed and the lorry drove into the bank lobby, trailing a mass of broken metal and glass underneath.

The detailed footage – from several CCTV cameras – was played before Lord Glennie. And it showed how impatient and agitated Fowler runs between the getaway car and the truck as time drags on.

The giant vehicle is seen skidding along the floor in the call centre’s reception before Nicol aims it at a cash machine and hits the ATM.

He smashes the truck into the ATM twice, before both men hit it with the sledgehammers, then blunder around for more than five minutes as armed cops rush towards them.

The blundering duo eventually gave up and fled but were arrested a short while later.

HSBC had to spend £197,298 to repair the damage. Drain and sewage services firm DPG Plus lost up to £60,000 in business and it is estimated that it would cost £50,000 to replace their truck.

Earlier, Shanti Maguire, prosecuting, told the court how security guard Thomas McGowan was watching CCTV cameras and colleague James Hunter was carrying out a patrol of the building when the farcical incident unfolded.

Ms McGuire said: “The witness McGowan immediately contacted witness Hunter on the radio to inform him that the premises had been breached.

“He contacted police and passed a description of the Skoda and its registration number. He also advised that both accused had their faces masked.”

Two police officers patrolling nearby spotted the pair and started chasing them.

Ms Maguire added: “Both officers noted there were two occupants in the vehicle and understood this to be the getaway car from information provided by McGowan and Hunter.

“A vehicle pursuit then took place for a distance which ended when the Skoda struck bollards and stopped suddenly. A pursuit of both the accused then took place on foot. They were both apprehended after a short time.

“A search of the vehicle was carried out. Five shotgun cartridges, a sawn-off shotgun, a quantity of tools, knives and a pair of number plates were seized.”

Nicol’s defence advocate Paul Nelson said his client – who had owned a garage in Glasgow – turned to crime because he had financial problems.

Mr Nelson added: “The video footage shows the inept nature of the crime. It is a demonstrable fact that the person who committed it is monumentally stupid or desperate.

“He is not stupid. He was quite desperate. Prior to the crime, he owned a garage business. He employed several people and made charitable donations.”

Mr Nelson said that Nicol’s garage ran into difficulty in 2011 when Glasgow City Council changed local laws with regard to businesses who sold partly worn tyres. Mr Nelson said that Nicol didn’t comply with the changes and his premises were raided.

He added: “The police came and seized £20,000 of stock.

“This placed him on a slippery slope. What happened led him into entering into this enterprise.”

Fowler’s solicitor, advocate John Keenan, said his client also had financial difficulties.

He added: “He had lost his job. At the time of the offence, he had learned his partner was pregnant and he was very worried about his ability to provide for their future.

“He fully appreciates that he is facing a lengthy custodial term. This has been brought into sharp focus by the fact that his partner is due to give birth in the next week and he won’t be there to see the birth of his child or participate in its formative years.

“I would ask your lordship to take his guilty pleas into account and restrict his sentence.”

Nicol and Fowler, both prisoners of HMP Addiewell in West Lothian, pled guilty last month to theft, robbery and firearms charges.